IMAGE: EBEN DICKINSON |
This week's Rogue gets shared by those responsible for the chamber of horrors at the low-income Upshur House Apartments in the thick of Northwest Portland's pricey condos.
A visit to the 30-unit complex at 2650 NW Upshur St., along with a little research, finds a list of longstanding problems such as busted sewer pipes and proliferation of mold in apartments where kids live.
Cascade Management administers the building for Upshur House Ltd., which owns the apartments and is a partnership run by former TriMet director Tom Walsh.
Tom Walsh's former construction company, Walsh Construction (now run by brother Robert Walsh), built the apartments in 1980 on property leased for 60 years from the Portland Development Commission, which requires that the building remain in a "good state of repair and in first-class condition."
Several lawsuits filed in the past year by tenants complain of uninhabitable conditions, including mold.
Children living at Upshur House suffer from high numbers of colds, earaches, skin rashes, asthma and other gland/skin disorders, say their parents. And independent mold tests done as part of the litigation reveal "a high likelihood of mold growth."
After years of tenant complaints, Cascade Management chose to cut out the worst infected pieces of the floorboards rather than replace the entire floor.
Letters from Cascade Management to tenants also acknowledge a series of sewer-line breaks underneath the apartments. Cascade declined comment, citing ongoing litigation.
In exchange for a complete release of liability, Cascade Management offered at least one tenant $6,000 (later upped to $8,000), substitute housing in Forest Grove and a spot on the waiting list to move back in following an estimated six-month repair.
The Walsh brothers declined comment. And the PDC says it waived its right of inspection in favor of another agency more directly involved in the building's operation doing it. That agency, Oregon Housing and Community Services, conducts annual site inspections, including review of 20 percent of the units. A May inspection of Upshur raised no red flags.
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building; Hamilton West Apt. Cascade has managed here for about three years now and I can say, without reservation, that living here before Cascade took over was SO much better; the previous managers were respectful of the tenants, friendly, AND they kept the building clean and in good repair. The plants on the rooftop common area were watered and tended to as were the plants and trees in the front of the building.
NOW the only plants alive are those that require minimal water. They never replace the dead plants in the springtime as did Bowen Management. The building is
just disgusting. Their 'Janitor' has no idea at all how to keep a building of this size clean.... he has no idea how to clean at all. The carpeting in the hallways is stained and filthy all the time. The building is in poor repair. The manager, Sean O'Neill has no social skills at all and is very aggressive toward the tenants. He's bothered when approached by a tenant for any reason. He's demeaning and very, very unprofessional.
The worst part of this is that CASCADE MANAGEMENT has been contacted time and time again since they placed Mr.
O'Neill in here, by many tenants with a variety of complaints! They have ignored every one of us. They
listen when we call but they never follow up.
What are we to believe except that Cascade does not care
about this building or the people in the building.
I want to know why HAP keeps them on as managers when there are other companies who also manage HAP owned properties and are much better at their job. This is not an old building. There's no excuse for it to be in such bad condition.
-a tenant at Hamilton West Apts.